Doctor Lu Always Wants To Steal My Baby! Chapter 72

“Commander, Hanyao Star has an urgent matter for you.”

On Shangyun Star. During a meeting, the adjutant entered and whispered the report into He Chen’s ear.

He Chen glanced at the muted terminal and walked out of the conference room.

“Senior Brother, what is it?”

“I have two pieces of news for you,” Lu Changqing said from the other end of the terminal, his voice calm and steady. “First, Le Yan has a fever again.”

Fever? He Chen frowned. “Is it still because of that thing?”

“Yes, but you don’t need to worry. Le Yan’s condition is still good. We’ve used physical methods to bring the fever down somewhat, and I will personally watch over him.”

“Understood.” He Chen suppressed his worry. “What’s the other news?”

“The other news is that Xiang Zhe detected unusual activity at the Pingshan Base. He used his program to monitor unauthorized access to the Pingshan Base armory.”

After He Hongsheng’s incident, Pingshan Base was temporarily managed by one of the base’s original deputy commanders. Until a new commander took over, everything should have been frozen and sealed, especially the armory.

“Someone defected?” He Chen asked, tightening his brow.

“We can’t rule out that possibility.”

“Their objective—” He Chen tapped his alloy fingers, finishing the sentence almost simultaneously with Lu Changqing on the terminal.

“You go first,” Lu Changqing said.

“The list Brother Xiang gave me of the more dangerous people who stayed at Pingshan Base is headed by He Ruiming. He is the mole He Hongyi planted beside He Hongsheng.”

“If it’s a defection, he must be the leader. His goal won’t be to occupy the base; that would be open treason, leading only to being encircled and annihilated. Most likely, He Hongyi knows he can’t reclaim Pingshan Base, so he’s remotely controlling He Ruiming to defect—first, to steal weapons, and second, to sabotage Pingshan, leaving me with a mess.”

“My view is the same as yours,” Lu Changqing said. “Weapon loss is secondary, but I fear they won’t simply escape with the weapons; they might cause widespread destruction within the administrative star.”

“Is Xiang Zhe there? Can he remotely control Pingshan Base’s internal system and cut the lighting?” He Chen asked calmly.

After a moment of silence, the reply came from the terminal: “He can, but he can’t control everyone to stay put inside the base.”

“I can,” He Chen replied.

“I’ll be the bait. He Hongyi will definitely have He Ruiming wait for me to show up.”

“That’s too risky—”

Lu Changqing instinctively spoke, but He Chen interrupted him: “Have Xiao Zhe stand by. Le Yan—I’ll leave Le Yan to you, Senior Brother, for now.”

With that, he decisively ended the call.

Lu Changqing looked at the silent terminal, pressing his lips together.

“Daddy, did Papa answer the phone?”

In the ward, He Leyan heard Lu Changqing return and wearily opened his eyes to ask.

Lu Changqing stroked his head. “He did. Papa is busy with something, but he’ll come back to see you as soon as he’s done.”

“Oh…” He Leyan replied in a soft, childish voice, then shook his head and said, “I’m not in a hurry.”

He then paused dully. “Daddy, the room seems to be spinning…”

“Are you dizzy?” Lu Changqing frowned, touching his cold hands and feet and his burning body—the temperature that had just dropped was inexplicably spiking again.

“I want to sleep…” He Leyan was groggy and closed his eyes.

“Bring a new batch of ice packs.”

“Try that method again…”

In a haze, He Leyan heard Daddy’s voice and felt a prick in his arm. It felt numb after the injection… Then, it felt like a pen drew two lines on his arm… Was someone drawing on his hand because they didn’t have paper?

He Leyan thought this as he drifted into a deep, confused sleep.

“Clan Master, it’s no use. Without a similar toxin, we can’t draw it out.”

The masked subordinate said this, and after Lu Changqing nodded, he removed the tubes connecting Lu Changqing’s and He Leyan’s arms, stopped the bleeding on He Leyan, and stitched the wound.

Lu Changqing pressed his own arm and looked toward the door. “Who is it?”

He Moyan pushed the door open and glanced at Lu Changqing’s arm.

Just now, he clearly saw a streak of black, very similar to Little Black’s snake scales, but now—

But now Lu Changqing had pulled down his sleeve, and blood had stained a patch of it red.

“What happened to him?” He Moyan stood by He Leyan’s bed, instinctively gripping He Leyan’s hand and adopting a defensive posture.

Truly worthy of being your father’s child.

Lu Changqing seemed to see He Chen through him, pausing for a moment before saying, “Your little brother has a toxin in his body that’s causing a high fever. We are trying to draw the toxin out.”

Toxin? He Moyan released his Little Black. “It can suck it out.”

“No,” Lu Changqing shook his head.

“Why not?” The young boy frowned.

Because if even he couldn’t do it, Little Black certainly couldn’t. “Because the doctors tested it. It requires a similar toxin inside the body.”

Lu Changqing said this, and seeing Little Black lower its head to bite He Leyan’s wound, he grabbed its head and looked at Moyan. “I know you want to save your brother, but doing that will only suck out his blood, and it won’t affect the toxin.”

“I swear, I’m not lying to you. If I lie, let me be lonely for life and never get Papa.”

He Moyan paused, looking at Lu Changqing with confusion. “He kicks off his blanket when he sleeps and talks in his sleep.”

Are you sure you absolutely must “get him”?

Lu Changqing was silent for a moment. “Your sleeping posture isn’t great either.”

He Moyan didn’t say anything more and looked back at He Leyan. “Where is the toxin? I’ll go suck some out.”

That was a good idea, but—“The toxin is in a very distant place.”

And the defenses are strict: reportedly because of a hateful incident where outsiders trespassed into the restricted area.

He Chen had managed to sneak into Tianlang Lake by merging with the Snow Wolf back then, but now the Celestial Wolf Clan had heightened their vigilance, and the people Lu Changqing sent couldn’t find any openings.

Drug research hadn’t yielded results yet. If Le Yan couldn’t recover this time, the only way was to have He Chen come.

“It will be fine once Papa comes back,” Lu Changqing comforted He Moyan.

He Moyan nodded, looking at the small bundle that was He Leyan on the bed: he didn’t like the little thing looking so listless.

Lu Changqing told He Moyan to calm down, but He Moyan was very agitated.

However, he suppressed it, sat down by He Leyan’s bed, and started playing a video game with loud, rapid tapping.

So noisy. It turned out Papa was playing a game. He Leyan, in a daze, walked toward Papa, squeezed into his arms, and watched him play.

“Le Yan, watch Papa do a whirlwind triple kick for you!”

Papa said excitedly.

He Leyan leaned against his chest and nodded, watching the little character on the screen turn into Papa, who went “swoosh, swoosh, swoosh,” kicking the opposing character right off the screen!

He Leyan’s eyes curved in a smile. “Papa is super amazing!”

“Le Yan?”

“Le Yan?”

He Leyan was laughing happily when his little face was pinched, and pinched again. He couldn’t help but reach out to grab the hand pinching him. With that movement, he suddenly woke up:

“Papa?”

He Leyan was confused, wondering how another Papa had appeared.

This Papa was wearing a military uniform, looked anxious, and carried a choking smell of smoke and gunpowder.

“Did the little character kick you out?” He Leyan asked in a low, weak voice.

“What?” Before He Chen could hear clearly, He Leyan closed his eyes and drifted back into a groggy sleep.

He Chen’s expression darkened slightly as he looked at Lu Changqing. “Didn’t Senior Brother say—”

He stopped mid-sentence, realizing his tone was harsh and could be misunderstood, so he suppressed his urgency. “Didn’t Senior Brother say Le Yan’s condition was still good?”

“Le Yan’s condition was indeed fine when I spoke with you. The high fever spiked again later,” Lu Changqing explained.

After explaining, he looked at He Chen’s right arm. “You’re injured?”

—He smelled blood.

“A minor injury,” He Chen said casually.

“How are things over there?”

“Everything is under control. I left people to take over.” He Chen said, turning the topic back to He Leyan. “Has he been burning up the whole time? Last time it went down overnight, but this time it’s been over twenty-four hours.”

After speaking, he once again realized his tone was poor, and he clenched his hand. “I’m not questioning you. I’m just—”

“I understand. You’re worried about Le Yan’s health.”

Lu Changqing said this, dismissing everyone else in the room:

“We’ll wait another six hours. If the fever still can’t break naturally, we’ll have to try that method.”

“Which one?” He Chen asked.

“The method you wanted to try last time—drawing out the toxin,” Lu Changqing explained.

“We’ve already run many tests. Other substances can’t achieve adsorption. Only a similar toxin might be able to draw it out of Le Yan’s body.”

“So, we’ll have to temporarily draw the toxin from Le Yan’s body into yours,” Lu Changqing looked at He Chen.

“We should have done it directly last time,” He Chen said. “But didn’t you say there was a risk of my toxin being drawn back into Le Yan’s body?”

“Your toxin concentration is higher than his. Theoretically, it won’t happen.”

He Chen felt somewhat relieved and looked at Lu Changqing. “Then there’s no need to wait six hours. Let’s do it now.”

“Le Yan can still wait. You need to treat your injury first,” Lu Changqing said, opening his terminal to notify someone to arrange for a surgeon to come in.

After the notification, he saw He Chen looking at him and couldn’t help but ask, “What is it?”

“So, you lied to me last time?” He Chen asked.

“What did I say last time?” Lu Changqing asked.

“That the toxin might accumulate in Le Yan’s body in reverse.”

“It wasn’t entirely a lie,” Lu Changqing answered calmly. “At the time, we hadn’t done any tests, so we truly didn’t know what the consequences would be.”

But based on his medical knowledge, he could completely deduce the accurate outcome, couldn’t he?

He Chen was silent for a moment. “Senior Brother had good intentions then, I understand. However—”

“However, although my intentions were good, I didn’t consider your will. In your heart, Le Yan’s health comes first. I shouldn’t have concealed information or given you inaccurate information.” At this point, Lu Changqing paused and looked at He Chen. “I understand that too.”

“In the future, I will be open about things and won’t use this method to influence your decisions again.”

…Talking to a smart person saves a lot of breath.

Since Lu Changqing had said everything that needed to be said, He Chen could only summarize: “Anyway, it’s better if Senior Brother doesn’t lie to me in the future. If you lie too much, my illness will be harder to cure.”

“What illness?” Lu Changqing frowned.

“Paranoia,” He Chen said very seriously.

Lu Changqing paused, and seeing that his expression wasn’t joking, he said, “I understand.”

Then he couldn’t help but add, “You’re not sick. Don’t overthink things.”

“It won’t hurt to treat it,” He Chen sat down in the chair beside the bed, looking at Le Yan, and said distractedly.

Lu Changqing noticed his fatigue, swallowed the words he wanted to say, and turned to get him a glass of water. “Have you eaten?”

“I had a nutrient paste,” He Chen replied, drinking the water in one gulp.

Lu Changqing poured another glass and placed it on the small table beside him, adopting the tone of a doctor explaining a patient’s condition, and seriously told him, “There is more information I need to clarify for you. Once the toxin accumulates, your body might not be able to handle it. This is a risk.”

“I know. It’s fine. I still have inhibitors I can use,” He Chen replied.

Even with inhibitors, he would inevitably suffer pain. Lu Changqing recalled how he looked when the toxin flared up last time, making him pass out and have nightmares.

But Lu Changqing knew that if he didn’t want to be pushed further away, he had to respect He Chen’s choices and actions.

Based on that, he would protect him as much as possible. “It’s very difficult to sneak into Tianlang Lake now. I plan to capture two Celestial Wolf clansmen who have the toxin in their bodies.”

“Capture them for what?” He Chen, who had been looking at He Leyan, looked up, his expression slightly changing. “You want me to do that, merge, with them?”

“…What nonsense are you talking about?” Lu Changqing’s calm expression cracked slightly. “I’ll have them draw the toxin out of your body, just like you drew it out of Le Yan.”

“…”

He Chen’s face was about to explode with redness.

“Can’t you, can’t you speak more directly?”

“Then can’t your mind be purer?” Lu Changqing retorted, his eyes burning with a bright light that was hard to distinguish between desire and anger.

“Who’s not pure…” He Chen mumbled, but what he was thinking was—he had seen those eyes before, at the bottom of the lake in the mental domain.

Clearly, it was Lu, the Great Academician, who was less pure. If it was just transferring breath, why did he have to transfer it for so long…

Forget it. Arguing about this topic was boring and childish, and didn’t fit his identity as a mature and steady Major General.

He Chen cleared his throat, his face flushed, and was about to summon his Major General demeanor when Lu Changqing suddenly reached out to unbutton his military uniform collar.

He Chen quickly covered his collar. “You, what are you doing now?”

“Looking at your injury.” Since entering the ward, He Chen’s right hand had been hanging motionless. Lu Changqing was increasingly worried.

“I’ll do it myself.” He Chen unbuttoned his collar with his left hand. Just as he finished, the doctor arrived.

Lu Changqing watched the doctor take off his clean outer jacket—presumably, this jacket was specially changed for seeing Le Yan. Underneath the jacket was a combat uniform soaked in blood.

Watching the doctor unwrap the haphazardly applied bandage, revealing the bloody, mangled wound underneath, Lu Changqing clenched his fingers. “Some things you don’t need to do yourself.”

“It’s just a minor injury. I have it under control,” He Chen said steadily.

When it came to fighting, he truly had things under control. He wouldn’t easily engage or declare war without calculating the advantages and disadvantages of the enemy and himself, and calculating various environmental variables.

Every battle he fought was the result of careful calculation. Well, except for the one three years ago.

“Commander, this is not a minor injury. The treatment is a bit complicated,” the surgeon couldn’t help but say after finishing the bandage removal.

“Part of your alloy prosthetic limb is deformed, and judging by your muscle weakness, the connecting nerves inside might also be damaged. We need to take it off for a detailed examination.”

“Examine it then,” He Chen said. It was just troublesome and time-consuming. He thought for a moment and then instructed, “Just give me a simple cleaning today. We’ll do the rest tomorrow.”

“Yes,” the doctor agreed, taking out antiseptic to clean the wound, but He Chen suddenly stood up. “Let’s change locations.”

He was afraid of crying out in pain and embarrassing himself, and also afraid that Le Yan might suddenly wake up and see his injury.

Lu Changqing instinctively wanted to accompany him, but He Chen stopped him. “Senior Brother, you stay with Le Yan.”

Lu Changqing had no choice but to stop, watching him and the doctor leave the ward.

Turning back, he heard He Chen’s low groan from the next room. Lu Changqing stroked the bright, neat, and completely undamaged military jacket draped over the back of the chair, his hand clenching slightly.

Just then, the terminal lit up. Lu Changqing answered the call, his eyes narrowing slightly. “You said who is coming over?”

“Your father, Council President Lu.”